Forging Friendships from the Ashes of Misery
by AwkwardHumanBeanThing
Summary: Marinette feels like she's drowning sometimes. A pressure in her chest builds up with the words she can't speak, and she tries to say it - to scream it at the top of her lungs - but nobody is willing to hear. That pressure never goes away; it just grows and grows. One day, Marinette has had enough and just wants a break, but somebody finally hears her calls.


Marinette felt like she was submerged underwater.

An inexplicable pressure built in her chest, but as she tried to speak, all her friends just turned their backs like they couldn't hear her – didn't _want_ to hear her.

It was just another dumb lie. It should have been inconsequential, really.

Lila had conjured up some story about her charitable work with some celebrity, and of course, the entire class had swooned in awe. Marinette wasn't even surprised. But she made the mistake of musing her thoughts out loud, and Lila snatched at the opportunity to tarnish Marinette's name.

Lila locked onto Marinette, fixating her full attention on the girl. She acted hurt at the distrust, and went on to elaborate how "you wouldn't understand the work I do. It wouldn't hurt if you tried to help out your community a little bit too, Marinette. You know, I don't think I've ever seen you do any volunteer work around here, and you're the class president. You always make some excuse and bail at the last minute. What does that say about your character? Of course, we can't all do the work I do with Prince Ali, but it's very important to help your home, don't you think?"

And before Marinette could even retort, her classmates began to squawk their thoughts.

"Yeah Marinette."

"You should try to help out more."

"You can't be that busy."

"You could do better Marinette."

And something just snapped in her.

She spent every available hour she had roaming Paris's streets and trying to protect the city from itself. She's saved each one of her classmates at least once, and she's never asked – never _wanted_ anything in return.

After accepting the Miraculous, Marinette's grades suffered and she could barely keep up. She could maybe get five hours of sleep on a good night with no homework and no obligations early in the morning. She hadn't designed or sewn anything in weeks; and when she had the chance to sit down and create, she found that most of her inspiration was drained. She had to quit helping out at the bakery, and her family life suffered for it.

Marinette wanted to do something, to say something, to just shout at the top of her lungs that she deserves a little love after all she's done.

But she knew she couldn't.

And as she scanned the icy, scorning gazes of her peers, she felt that familiar pressure bubble up in her chest again. Their verbal lashings garble and disconnect in her mind, and she's left gasping for air when she hasn't even opened her mouth.

So she just turned around, sat in her desk, and waited for class to begin.

Her eyes never strayed from the board, but she wasn't really paying attention. She just concentrated on the drumming of her heart, the dull throb in her head, and looking straight ahead – even when she felt the glares and glances from her peers. She refused to let her shoulders stoop or her chin drop. She sat like a perfect statue throughout the entire period, and when the bell rang for lunch, she slowly packed her bags and left.

But Marinette didn't go to the cafeteria.

She just walked out of the school. She didn't think anyone would notice, or much care. Instead, she returned home, made some quick excuse to her parents about not feeling well, and slowly trudged to her room.

And the very second she knew she was alone, Marinette slammed the trap door shut and collapsed on the floor.

Tikki zipped out of Marinette's purse, and tried to encourage her to cheer up, but Marinette was too far gone. Her heavy sobs and gasps for air trumped over Tikki's gentle coos and comforts, and Marinette knew that it was a lost cause.

She just didn't feel like Marinette anymore, and she'd had enough of it.

It wasn't just the one incident either; it was all of them. All the times no one ever said anything to defend her, all the times Marinette looked for comfort in her friends, just to find them making small talk with the enemy, all the hours of sleepless nights; everything.

She even took those posters of Adrien down. She held out hope for a long time, and he'd promised he'd support her and he'd be there when she needed him, but where was he now? And where was he all those other times? And those feelings of hope and butterflies she once had slowly diminished every time Lila degraded her in front of the class, every time she looked at him pleadingly, every time she would clearly call out for his help, and he would do _nothing_.

Marinette was just done.

She knew what would happen, and tenderly removed her earrings and placed them on her desk, ignoring the hollow feeling of Tikki's presence disappearing.

Now she truly felt alone.

Marinette curled up in the corner of her room, and hugged herself tightly as she allowed herself to weep and tremble. She knew that Hawkmoth would have located her by now, and she expected was to see a purple butterfly float towards her, and Hawkmoth's cold voice to echo in her ears. She couldn't even say that she'd try to deny his proposition at this point. She was just so sick and tired of it all.

What Marinette didn't expect was a warm embrace and the overwhelming scent of vanilla and cinnamon. She thought perhaps her mother overheard her sobbing, but when she opened her eyes to a bright yellow cardigan, Marinette had to admit she was a bit surprised.

Because here she was in her room, weeping and waiting to be akumatized, only to be consoled by a girl who had tried to make Marinette's life a living hell for the past few years.

But damn the past because Marinette really needed a hug, and if Chloe was willing to help – then so be it.

After Marinette calmed, and her bawling was reduced to small hiccups, Chloe finally spoke.

"It's ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous."

And Marinette smiled just a little, because that was definitely Chloe speaking.

"Our class must be blind if they can't see through that girl's lies. Honestly, her stories have more plot holes than swiss cheese. And to think that she'd accuse you of not helping out – please! You're our everyday Ladybug for god's sakes, and by the looks of that little pink thing, you're the real deal too."

Marinette froze a little.

"You saw?"

"Yeah. I came in right as you took your earrings out and that bug looking kwami disappeared. I mean, I'm honestly not surprised. Only Marinette Dupain – Cheng could be badass enough to deal with akumas all day and pretend like it's nothing the next. I'm astonished that I didn't see it sooner."

And Marinette relaxed and laughed just a bit, because "badass" was one term Marinette _never_ would have described herself as. But she wasn't opposed to the idea.

"You won't tell, will you?"

"Oh heavens, no. I've already learned my lesson about that, and I'm not making the same mistake twice. Besides, who'd I have to tell? The class certainly doesn't deserve to know – and I don't talk to anybody else."

"What about Sabrina?"

Chloe averted Marinette's gaze. "She hasn't really been the same with that Lila girl around. I guess she's found a new friend."

And Marinette genuinely felt bad for Chloe. And before the silence could creep in and make the situation more awkward than it already was, Marinette lent forwards and wrapped Chloe in a hug.

They spent the rest of the day talking and hugging (and maybe a little bit of crying too). But it felt good to finally be able to talk to someone, and Marinette felt that unbearable weight on her chest lighten.

The next day, the class was stunned to see Marinette and Chloe walk in together. They tried to interrogate the pair – learn the reason behind this madness – but the two girls just brushed off their prying questions and stares.

Even when Lila commented on the new friendship, and tried to pick apart each girl individually, Chloe and Marinette would just share a quick reaffirming glance and they were able to ignore Lila's attacks.

Marinette had to admit, it felt nice to be able to look around and find a comforting pair of eyes, and she forgot how fun it was to eat lunch with a friend.

And gradually, Marinette began to forget about that dull pain in her chest, and was able to focus on the pleasant ache in her stomach after laughing too hard at one of Chloe's stories, or the excitement that bubbled in her chest when they would watch a movie together and yell at the characters for their obliviousness.

And if that unbearable pressure returned, Marinette knew she had a friend to turn to – a _real_ friend - and that was all she needed.

XXX

Congrats on making it to the end! I just wanted to say that I wrote this when I was somewhat majorly pissed at Adrien for not helping Marinette (I know he didn't have all the facts, but gosh darn it, I wanted him to grow a pair and help out Mari), and I just thought of how awesome it would be to have a Marinette – Chloe friendship. That would be the most badass friendship in all MLB and you can't convince me otherwise!

Feel free to comment if you liked the story, saw a error you'd like me to fix, had an idea you'd want me to bring to life, or just want a nice little chat!

Thanks again for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day!

-AwkwardHumanBeanThing


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